Executioner

He was a boy who was accustomed to ask permission for everything; that they should take him by the hand and sometimes lead him through dangerous streets, and as a matter of education, they’d chew him out and impose punishment on him if he misbehaved. When he was an adolescent, he understood that you have to listen to wise advice from experienced people; that you couldn’t go everywhere because danger lurks and you have to behave well to escape punishment. Now he is a man and expresses without permission that he wants no advice nor company to go wherever he’d like. He discovered that the hand that guided him has been and is his executioner, and that this is the larger punishment.

Urban Slums Report: The Case of Havana, by Mario Coyula – 2003

Click on image to open report. The report contains an excellent guide to housing in Havana and its terminology, for example use of the term "barbecue" for a makeshift platform built to gain floorspace.

Other media: Yes, you may republish articles from this site if…

Conditions: DO NOT REMOVE THE AUTHOR'S NAME (that would be plagiarism); cite TranslatingCuba.com as the source and if the article includes a link to a newspaper (14ymedio.com, Cubanet.com, DiariodeCuba.com, or others), please maintain that link.